The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-05-02
A COMEDIANS TRIP.
WHAT NAT GOODWIN THINKS OF
ENGLAND AND ENoLISHMEN.

ENGEPlNO ANU CiNGEiOFImENs
First Impressions of the Old World.
Ride from London to Interpolation
don Club Life-A Phase of Character.
a Discovery
The first impression one gets of the Old
World is very delightful and odd. The
peculiar delivery of speech, the costum1ng,
the contrast presented by the extremes Of
wealth and poverty. l never remember
seeing such a sight as that I witnessed when
landed at Liverpool A poor, decrepit, old
woman and a boy were begging at the dock.
She, with only two garments visible-a
thing which was once q dress and a scant
covering that answered for shawl Shoe
less, stoclEingless, with nothing to cover the
few white hairs yet remaining, huge staff
in her hand to help her along the streets.
The boyi Well, never admired Miss Jen-
mia Lee so much for her portrayal of fPoor
Joe'' till I saw that wan, coIisumptive lad
helping his granny to earn a few pennies.
OF course the begging in Europe Is carried
to a far greater extent than here; but, my
dear readers, it is needed. We do not
know what poverty is in dear America. /
met hundreds just as poor as that old
woman and her boy, who, if they were to
appear in such garbs here, the blessed
charitable institutions, of which we have
so many, would, in stage parlance, turn
people away" When you go abroad take
few pennies every day and give a little,
no matter how small, to the many poor
devils you meet. You won't miss the money
and you have no idea how much joy you
car cause with shilling day expended in
that way.
The ride from London to Liverpool every
one knows is delightful. Cultivated fields,
tiny cottages, densely populated with ruddy
faced young ones, lovely scenery, and pecul-
lar architecture are seen at every reyOlu-
ton of the wheels. The few hours of COM
Portable travel soon go by and you find
yourself in the metropolis of the world.
London is undoubtedly the greatest city in
the universe, but the people are cold, stoical
and solid. shall conffne myself simply to
the impressions formed relative to the
profession 1 represent, to theater and club
life. The latter is very seductive but not
at all conducive to domestic happiness, SO
far as the summer visitor is concerned. One
never knows when to leave the clubs, at
least found it so, and if you wish this as
sertion verified ask Mrs. Goodwin. There are
a great many benefits to be derived from
London club life; the constant association
with blight minds, for one thing, must
have a tendency to improve every young
actor. At the Savage and Green room,
where constant visitor, I met some OF the
cleverest men; journalists whom I always
cultivated, painters, sculptors, literary peo-
pie and actors. 1 found most of them very
charming. Englishmen, collectively, do
not admire. Individually, I have many
friends, of whose friendship I am vastly
proud, but as a race they lack that spon-
Saneity, openness and warmheartedness
which characterizes the Americans, and for
that reason am far happier when in the
latter's society.
PHASE OF LONDON CHARACTER.
I forgot to mention a peculiar phase of
London character, which is little known
here, viz, the London cabby and '''bus''
driver. They are, indeed, a peculiar class,
healthy and ruddy as rule, and very witty
always ready with reply, and woe to him
who endeavors to equal them In repartee. I
had heard they were clever lot, and deter
mined to find out for myself Victor
Hugo once said, FThe only way to see
London thoroughly WIS from the top of a
bus / am convinced he was right,
for I adopted that democratic mode of sight
seeing. / always rode from my home at
Chaplain to Charing Gross on the top of
one and generally at the same hour, con-
1 usually had the same driver.
One in particular was a source of great
y
happy as lark, full of anecdote, and
really a jolly good fellow; we became
quite ''chummy." One day pronounced
the word America as all Englishmen say
we do-that is emphasizing the letter
''R, - and for the first time he discovered
my nationality. His face beamed with
evident joy as he exclaimed
t'Well, I'm blowedi You're Yankee -
answered yes. He then said with that
peculiar cockney accent, 81 would like to
visit your country. There is q chance
there for a case as Is villin to work. You
can be something there, no matter where
you springs from, so long as you're upright
and square. No blooming chance over
here unless you're built right at your
birth. Too much caste here to suit me-
IT'S the worshiping of the bloke on round of
the ladder above and the utter condema-
alton Of the guy beneath" Quite logical
that, and ably put, even though he was only
q bus driver earning his four hobs a day